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Thursday, January 08, 2004
Magsaysay: Awesome octogenarians
By Jo Magsaysay
Whatever
With a bang! I begin my first column of the New Year. I am not voting in the elections this year. I have been seriously considering the thought that I will not exercise my Constitutional right to vote in the forthcoming elections. It is just an exercise in futility. What? And have an unworthy person become president of our country because of my one precious, crucial vote? C’mon, we’ve been through malarkey before: elections can be rigged and even in the electronic age, computers can be manipulated. Ever heard of hackers logging on to bank accounts to transfer millions of funds so smoothly before you can screech ‘I’ve been robbed!’ That gizmo in the Comelec can and most likely be programmed for a petty sum favoring a candidate. Call me skeptical. Call me cynic. Call me un-patriotic. But the cookie, this cookie, does crumble.
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Besides, do I have a choice? There’s this wannabe who is a nice-enough guy with a
squeaky clean image even if he reportedly has a reputation to drink beer raising San Miguel stock to unprecedented highs and who, reportedly, goes to the little boy’s room escorted by his security to make sure nobody peeks when he pees? Neanderthal, you know? Like ugh! Like duh! Then there’s this other good fellow who loves loud printed shirts which psycho dabblers babble are mere cover-up for an innocuous ho-hum personality. The less I think about this other candidate, the better–he gives me the shivers and the shakes, cold and humorless he is, his expressionless eyes like that of a dead fish so that I’d probably find myself six feet under. Not that my one little vote will get him into the presidency. God forbid! As for the one who is so full of her own glory, she is beginning to believe that a cuckoo bird in the bush is worth two bulky accounts in hand. Having wiffled and waffled over a firm decision not to run, her ambition has caught up with her and has since melted down to mere putty in the hands of the invisible hulk.
ab
So what’s my beef? I am not even a registered voter. I have not registered. I could not be registered. Not for lack of trying. Falling in line along with mobs of people under the scorching sun with my bad back only to be told that they had run out of forms, to come back another day is not exactly my idea of nationalism so let the jingoist patriots crucify me. So what started out with a bang is ending up to be a whimper, but oh boy! It feels great to flex my writing muscles!
ab
Ocho-ocho actually is more within my ken. The catchphrase is what I would like to identify the octogenarians who are among my dearest friends. Like the tune, they are lively, spirited and happy. Unlike the loony lyrics, my friends are incredibly commonsensical. Some of them may be humped and stooped, not from the backbreaking dance, but from osteoporosis. Some others hobble about with their walking canes, their joints painfully locked with arthritis. Some never say dye would rather wear their hair stunning shock of white. All the same, they are gung-ho, do or die types. Feisty and gutsy they cope with their physical disabilities, wrestle with financial concerns and tackle emotional challenges fearlessly facing their twilight years with dignity and a sense of humor… I’m no longer in the pre-departure area, I have been issued my boarding pass… Unfazed by their age, the discomforts, the aches and pains attendant thereto, they are immensely productive, throwing themselves with tremendous enthusiasm into the various activities… civic, socio-economic, business, charity and religious that welcome their expertise from long experience. Occasionally, they choose to seek solitude and the sounds of silence contemplating the glories of their past, the uncertainties of the present and the joyful anticipation of peaceful rest in the future with their faith and confidence in God’s will, unshakeable.
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A bonus year for every year after 80. I think it was Isabel Muertegui Garcia who told me that when she celebrated her 81st birthday at the luxuriously appointed manse of her sister, Cheding Larrazabal. Belle who is absolutely belissima still loves to traipse off to Masbate to oversee operations of the family hacienda managed quite expertly by her son, still cultivates her collection of bandera Española in glorious varieties and colors, still babies her old kamuning tree which is a perennial bloomer sprouting clusters of white flowers like snowflakes on emerald leaves. Also proud of her green thumb is Cheding who nurses her garden plots of aromatic herbs and spices to flavor the food and scent of her life. As passionate with her gorgeous collection of orchids, antiques and jewelry, Azon Mercado, who proclaims to being 84 and attributes her baby smooth skin to a cream she’s been pampering herself since her teens, does her own marketing in Carbon for the lamon-lamon fish for the kinilaw and ox tripe for the callos she is noted for. More publicly and actively involved are Esperanza Valenzona, the militant lawyer battling for the rights of streetchildren; Suga Yuvienco, championing the welfare of abused women, shakes down congressional assistance and women’s clubs everywhere through the power of her personality and column to come to the aid of battered women. Loring Victorino who is incredibly 93 years old, has shed off her high heels and driver’s license to devote her time and efforts for the hearing-impaired. Inday Avila who attends every single meeting of numberless organizations even if she has caught herself napping happily on several occasions lends support to crippled children while Felisa Chiongbian always neatly coiffed tends to the business of her many companies when she isn’t attending to the needs and concerns of her various charity projects as does Beling Ching Hai—her snow-white hair flashing like a beacon light leads Cebu’s clubwomen to the cleaning and greening of the community. And the third by their physical disabilities, Nilda Martinez- her artificial kneecaps; and Nena Aguilar—her glaucoma—they carry on with the humdrum routine of everyday living, daily masses, gardening, occasional visits to their farms and mahjong, keeping themselves fit and content.
Awesome octogenarians leave me speechless and breathless most of the time.
There’s Estelle Hontanosas at 84 who can out-twirl and swirl, out-bend and dip, out-swing and sway, out-boogies, out cha-cha, out-tango any teeny bopper on the dancefloor… like Ester Lozada, the perpetual motion machine whose exuberant lifestyle has me gasping with envy while the sedentary life of Conchita Velasco is more up my alley, still manages to whip up her melt in the mouth mammon as does her sister-in-law Luching Unchuan with her priceless, peerless tocino del cielo. No one but no one can have the joie de vivre of Millie Sembrano whose mission in life is to make people happy dispensing her celebrated Parmesan peanuts, duty free goodies, chicharon and empanaditas to all her friends and splurging on lechon parties and gifts to her domestic helpers and neighborhood squatters after earning a tidy sum selling fried bananas, binanday and pinaypay. The pre-eminent icon of fashion designers Vering Romoff has not set aside her cutting table at 83.
She scissors away pattern after pattern of the wedding gowns that are much in demand by her clientele from across the seas. Certainly not fit for the lounging chair of retirees either is Lorena Santos Yu still much too good a professor of medicine, articulate and effective as she is to resign or retire, she is being prevailed upon to continue her job teaching physical diagnosis.
Resting on her laurels as one of Cebu’s most successful and best loved if not oldest obstetrician, Macring Leyson enjoys the company of her friends and relatives treating them ever so often with fine dining out… one giant steamed crab for P8,000! Inday Virginia Chiongbian has found a terrific way to ward off Alzheimer’s disease, playing mahjong-keeping track and count of the pieces stimulates her brain! The shy and reclusive Adela Jarque on the other hand enjoys the luxury and warmth of her family hovering attention around her while Carmen Martinez loves nothing better than gathering her family together every weekend for bonding, for the love that ties the family together. My kind of ocho-ocho are wonderful and I love them all!
(January 8, 2004 issue)
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